


Red, Blood Red

by Goodluckdetective (scorpiontales)



Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, DCU, DCU (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Gen, Past Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-12
Updated: 2015-05-12
Packaged: 2018-03-30 06:46:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,555
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3926890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scorpiontales/pseuds/Goodluckdetective
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jason never died as Robin, just moved up to a new hero name. Tim dies under similar circumstances, however, and comes back just as violently- but more planning behind him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Red, Blood Red

**Author's Note:**

> Warnings: Past child death, child injury, body horror, violence, gruesome murder. None of the characters in here are mine; all belongs to all mighty DC.

Dick was already waiting outside of Jason’s dorm when he woke up.

            Jason stretched up in his bunk, and peered outside the window. Standing below on the street was Dick, his motorcycle parked right next to him. He waved up to Jason, a small smile on his face.

            “Dick?” Jason rubbed his eyes, blinking a few times. He reached down for his phone and froze when the date appeared on the screen.  March 10th. “Aw fuck.”

            He leapt out of bed, grabbing his clothes that he had laid out the night before. Being a vigilante for a few years had taught him a few tricks about getting dressed in a flash.  In less than five minutes he was ready, and after quickly locking his door, he ran out into the hallway, ignoring the questions from some of his fellow classmates who were wandering the halls.

            As soon as he stepped outside, all his momentum vanished. His shoulder’s slumped and he walked over to Dick with a grave look on his face.

            “You forget?” Dick and Jason were the same height now almost, but Jason always felt like the man loomed over him. Probably something to do with an older brother complex. Jason glared.

            “Course not. I just…well I woke up and it took awhile to hit me, that’s all.”          He grabbed the extra motorcycle helmet Dick kept on the cycle and strapped it onto his head. “Let’s get a move on Goldie.”

            The ride took only fifteen minutes, not bad considering the traffic that usually surrounded Gotham U. The cemetery’s plant life was just starting to bloom in the early days of spring. Dick parked the cycle off the street and within a few moments, they had reached their destination.

            Tim’s grave was perfectly polished, despite years of wear and tear from Gotham’s elements. A fresh set of flowers, lilies, were set in front of the marble, likely from the boy’s father and step-mother. Bruce had clearly been there as well, since there was a single rose and a chess piece placed on top of Tim’s grave. Jason and Dick didn’t carry any flowers, they had long decided that placing them on Tim’s grave was redundant, but they brought their own gifts.

            “Hey, kid.” Jason reached into his pocket and pulled out an empty packet of cigarettes, which he placed next to the flowers. “I’m still off the smokes. Figured it’d be a nice present.” Dick had brought something of his own, a brochure from the circus.

            “Hope you like it, little brother,” he said. He looked to Jason, whose eyes were fixed on Tim’s death date. “How’s Bruce?”

            “Why don’t you ask him?” Dick looked away and Jason sighed. “What was the fight about this time?”

            “Don’t worry about it.” Jason kicked the dirt with the toe of his sneakers.

            “I’ll watch him on patrol tonight if that’s what you’re asking. Make sure he doesn’t do anything dumb.”

            Dick snickered. “Not even Tim was capable of that.”

            The two boys looked down at the grave of the brother who was never theirs to begin with. Neither said anything if one began to cry.

***

            The Joker had almost killed Jason once.

            It was when he was searching for his Mom, reckless and wild. The Joker had tricked him, locking him in a warehouse before almost beating him to death. Bruce had barely gotten there in time before the place blew, and even then, it was at the cost of Jason’s birth mother.

            Jason’s lesson from the incident had been a few scars on his skull, a the occasional headache, and a lifetime wariness of clowns. He had left the mantle of Robin two years later, taking on Red Robin instead, when he found a boy on the streets taking photos who seemed to need the position more.

            Tim had lasted a year. Then came the Joker, a bigger bomb and a bigger boom.

            Jason wasn’t sure what traumatized him more; the loss of a kid he saw as a brother, or the fact that when he looked down at Tim’s grave, sometimes he saw his own name.

***

            Being a vigilante was hard. Being a vigilante in college was harder.

            “Look Batman,” Jason said, following Bruce as they weaved through industrial area of Gotham. “You may have managed to ditch Robin for this patrol, but you’re not ditching me. You’re gonna have to cave and give me the scoop.”

            “Go back home, Red Robin.” The growl sounded more fierce than usual, but Jason had been long immune. He rolled his eyes, running towards Batman before flipping so he landed facing the man.

            “Look,” he poked the man in the chest, raising his chin to try to seem more intimidating. “Your emotionally compromised, and you need help when you’re a wreck. Robin told me what you were up to today; watching the feed by the graves before sending her packing to the Titans. Either call Robin on her cell phone, or deal with me. Or I’ll call in the big guns.”

            Batman’s gaze narrowed, but after a stare down that would have impressed Dick he nodded. “Drug dealers. Found beheaded in each of their hideouts with a message.” He began to walk forward and Jason followed, close at his heels.

            “What was the message?”

            “I’m in charge now. Work for me, or see your entrails hanged up as Christmas lights. The Red Hood.”

            Jason bristled at the Joker’s old name, but tried to hide it. “You think it’s the clown?”

            Batman shook his head. “Joker is locked up. No way it’s him.” He reached out his grappling how and aimed it towards the nearest building before flying off. “This is someone new.”

***

            The Red Hood was fucking good.

            Bruce and Jason had cornered him outside of the south district, but the guy had gotten away. But not before blowing him to hell. Jason was sure his bruises had bruises.

            He woke up the next morning and stretched, trying not to wince at the pain from lingering bruises. He pulled out his computer, the one he kept for Bat work only, and opened up the files of the Red Hood.

            Oracle had gotten one good photo of the guy, which she had made sure to send to every member of the family. The Red Hood was dressed in a black leather jacket, with two guns, a knife and some smoke bombs attached to his belt. His combat boots were military grade, or at least good rip offs. On his back, he had a bo staff with retractable blades. Jason rubbed one of the cuts he had gained last night as he stared at the staff. He knew those moves, the style the man used. But from where he couldn’t place it.

            That didn’t stop him from shuddering anyway.

***

            He had just gotten out of Math lecture when he got the call from Dick.

            “Jason, something is up.” Jason tugged his backpack so it was hanging from both of his shoulders, and tilted the phone closer.

            “Is Bruce okay?”

            “No, no.” The slight edge of panic in Jason’s gut vanished. “It’s just that the photo of the Hood; it’s gone. Someone wiped it from the servers. And it wasn’t any of us.”

            Jason almost dropped the phone. “Someone got in!” There was silence from the other end. “That isn’t possible. Our codes are fucking unbreakable, Dick!”

            “Calm down,” Dick said and Jason made an effort to soften his voice. “He left a message to. Something about his next hit. Bruce is going tonight, but he’s restricted us from coming.”

            There was a pause for a few seconds before Jason said anything. “So we’re totally going, right?”

            “You know it.”

***

            The scene they stumbled on was horrific.

            They got there after Bruce, the Bat and the Hood running out into the night. Nightwing, Red Robin and Robin all stared down through the window of the warehouse the Hood had led them into. Inside, the biggest child murders of the last ten years, all who had gone missing a week ago, lied on the floor, their skin peeled off of their bodies. In the middle was a chalk outline of a body, likely one of a teenage boy. In the middle of the chalk outline was just a simple sentence.

_“How many more are you going to let go?”_

            Robin turned a bright shade of green, and it took some reassurance from Nightwing before she could breath again. Stephanie was a tough kid, but there was only so much she could take.  
            They jumped rooftop to rooftop until they reached the one where Bruce and the Hood were standing on. Both were facing one another, their postures guarded.

            “Remember, if he get’s into trouble we jump,” Dick said. He opened his mouth to say something else before he cut off entirely.

            The Red Hood had taken off his mask. Stephanie, Dick and Jason stared at the man, no the boy, standing on the roof with various expressions of surprise. Bruce seemed just as frozen, his posture almost stilted.

            “Is that…” Stephanie said, her voice hushed. Jason nodded, and while he could see the figure on the roof clearly, all he could see in his mind was the young boy with a camera around his neck and a large smile.

 


End file.
